Thinking in parallel..

The Supreme Court has a case that affects all disabled people, and the decision can be very damaging for us. We need to trust the police, and the police must “Connect, Respect, Protect” disabled people as they do with all people, not command, advance, hurt , kill.

Awareness campaigns of disabilities are only effective if they are planned and run primarily by the groups that are the subjects of the campaign. This is because such campaigns are not “awareness”, but “acceptance” campaigns.
We welcome support, with focus on respect, equality and access.
We don’t need “awareness” of deficits and tragic rhetoric.

This poem is for my young friends: Evie, Ty, Max, Fallon, Mu, Jack, Emma, H., Philip, Oliver, Brooke, Henry, Miri, Cody, MissG, MasterL, and many others I cannot name here but I know are going to grow up to change the conversation. You make me very happy!

Sesame Street knew nobody was missing, or lacking, anything. I was perfect! Everyone is perfect!
But in real life, as I grew older, doctors and teachers convinced everyone that I was too broken to be worthy of any effort toward education and a future. Nobody saw me the way I was seen by my friends at Sesame Street.

I know most people want to do the right thing and believe “Autism Awareness” helps. But it doesn’t and it is time for some blunt truths, it is past time to stop walking in circles and move forward with Autism Acceptance.

Autism Speaks has been hurting autistics for too long. We are fighting back and we are stronger. It is time to say things like they are. This post is because I feel offended by people defending hateful speech.

Today we are flashblogging to counter Autism Speaks’ wrong view of autism. We are showing what autism really is. We speak for ourselves, even if Autism Speaks refuses to listen. The rest of the world will.

When I met Jon Stewart I was very disappointed by his lack of knowledge and sensitivity toward autism. During a recent interview, while still a bit condescending, his views seem to have evolved. This is my open letter to him.

Life changes and so do we. And if some still cannot care for themselves, like me, this is not a reason to dismiss us and reduce us to a pointless functioning label.
Who knows in which body the next brilliant brain resides, if opportunities are not equal?

After a three-day conference, I needed to sleep. I needed to sleep because I was dreamy, trying to keep the feeling of being in a place where I can be myself and also be a little bit like a star. Also, building community.

This is not directed at anyone in particular. It is about several people I’ve met throughout my life. I sometimes need to remind myself that being me means following my own agenda and not pleasing the ones who will not be part of my story.

This is for every person who embodies the meaning of motherhood. This is for the ones who nurture and protect, who never consider their lives more important than the lives of the ones being nourished, educated, protected and loved.

I stand with Ashley because she is part of our community, she is brave and she survived brutality.I stand with Ashley because I hope to show her, one day, that the joy of belonging to our caring community trumps the memories of pain.

Some parents understand that autism is a natural part of some children’s lives and they fight the societal attitudes toward autistics. That’s love. Some parents don’t, and they fight, and hurt, their own children. This is not love and is one of the things that make me very tired.

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree…”We know how functioning labels are not helpful, despite being largely used by neurotypicals. But some autistics also grade members of our community and I want to understand why.

After “Non-speaking, ‘low-functioning’” was published, lots of people wanted to hear from me. I met so many amazing people, autistic bloggers with so much to share and the smartest people I know. Parents of autistic children also valued my words.

Autistic advocate and poet Amy Sequenzia’s message of acceptance and respect for young autistics for 2012 Autistics Speaking Day. “There is nothing wrong with being who you are. You are perfect in your uniqueness.”

We hope that young autistics today will be proud of themselves and without shame. The message that boy received at that moment was the opposite of acceptance. It was ableist and it came from someone who is part of our own community.

Other people have written better articulated articles about the same things I write in this poem. It is hard for me to elaborate beyond the words in the poem. It could have easily been me in some cases, it can happen to any of us.

It is a mistaken idea that we, autistics, lack empathy. It is also a myth that we are not social. My friends and I, we understand and respect differences. And we understand that we all have a lot to contribute, in a diversity of manners.

The title of this blog is an expression seen in many blogs written by disabilities advocates and self-advocates. Wasn’t his life worth living? Isn’t mine or the lives of all disabled people?

The murder of 22 year-old autistic George Hodgins prompted the latest, very strong protests from the autistic community against the media coverage focused on the “reasons” for the killing, while ignoring George’s, the victim, life.

“Feeling sorry for our disabilities means not accepting ourselves. I feel sorry because disabilities rights are still lacking, not because I am disabled. My message is, hopefully, about our strength and similarities”. Amy Sequenzia